by Rev. Herbert Nichols

Today we begin the season we call Lent which literally means spring or new birth. But it is not a birth that we can take for granted. It must be nurtured to develop. Like the word Lent which begins with the letter "L". Each of the readings of today's liturgy has a message that begins with "L".

In the first reading, the prophet Joel tells us: Return with all your heart. Lent is a time to put behind us anything and everything that has separated or distracted us from the Lord. Jesus' suffering and death on the cross makes sense only when we realize that He it was done from love for each of us.

First of all we must accept that love. Secondly we must share it. Whatever you plan to do this Lent, it must come from your heart. Going on a diet, merely to loose weight may be good for your health, but it may not be particularly loving for anyone else

The second message from St. Paul's Letter to the Corinthians is listen. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. While we make every effort to reduce our intake of physical nourishment-we must also increase our spiritual food through the sacraments, reading of sacred scripture, be it the traditional Stations of the Cross or more contemporary Bible study and sharing. Lent offers us so many special opportunities to hear Christ's call in the written as well as the broadcast media.

The third message from the gospel itself is a reminder that we are all human. In spite of beautiful plaster statues and stained glass windows, the church is not primarily a museum of saints but a hospital for sinners struggling to be saints-struggling, falling, and recovering. The primary mission of Christ and his Church is to heal and to make whole, and live.

Too often we think of Lent as morbid and stifling. The gospel tells us not to look glum like the hypocrites but to be happy. It is a time of growth and growth is a joyous event. Would a parent want to keep their child a child forever?

On this first day of Lent we use traditionally bless and smear ashes which seem so cold and lifeless; but in taking upon Himself our humanity, Jesus took our lifelessness like ash and resurrected us like a phoenix from the flames and that's why we end Lent with the blessed and roaring fire of the Easter Vigil.

The roaring flames indicate Christ's triumph over sin and death; and all the cold lifeless ash that we struggle to root out of our lives over these next six and half weeks.